Photo courtesy of Close Up 360
Lisa Leslie appeared on the I Am Athlete podcast alongside former NFL players Chad Johnson and Brandon Marshall and discussed WNBA player Brittney Griner’s detainment in Russia.
The former WNBA player revealed that she and other players were advised not to make a “big fuss” about the situation.
“What we were told, and again this is all sort of passed along through hearsay, but what we were told was not to make a big fuss about it,” Leslie said. “So that they could not use her as a pawn, so to speak, in this situation in the war. So, to make it like it’s not that important or don’t make it where we’re like, ‘Free Brittney’ and we start this campaign, and then it becomes something that they can use.”
Lisa explained that she and WNBA Hall of Famer Dawn Staley have daily conversations about Griner’s arrest and how the Russian government has treated the 31-year-old.
“We’re just like ‘Dang, what’s she doing now? Do you think they cut off her hair? Does she have a bed long enough to fit in?’”
While Leslie did not reveal the source’s identity, it did not prevent her from speaking out on the ongoing investigation.
Many have criticized the minimal coverage Griner has received since her arrest in February, including Aileen Gallagher, associate journalism professor at Syracuse University. “It is absurd this isn’t a huge story,” she said while questioning the coverage from radio airwaves to the front pages of the nation’s most notable newspapers.
“It is a clear domestic connection to the biggest story in the world right now that also involves an athlete who is considered one of the best to ever play the game,” Gallagher told NPR.
As News Onyx previously reported, Griner was detained in Russia by the customs officials after they found cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage. Since the drug is illegal in the country, the Phoenix Mercury player could face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
“We are aware of the situation with Brittney Griner in Russia and are in close contact with her, her legal representation in Russia, her family, her teams, and the WNBA and NBA,” her agent Lindsay Kagawa Colas told ESPN in a statement last month.
On March 17, ESPN reported that the Russian court extended Griner’s detention until May 19.
“The court granted the request of the investigation and extended the period of detention of the U.S. citizen Griner until May 19,” the court’s officials reportedly said.